The Nation Newspaper

Tag: research

  • How firms can aid medical research

    Pharmaceutical firms have been asked to fund research and development of indigenous herbal plants.

    These herbs produce plant materials containing ingredients that can provide medical and health benefits, researchers at the Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA), Lagos, have said.

    Speaking when students from the Department of Plant Science and applied Zoology, Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago Iwoye, Ogun State visited the agency, a Chief Research Officer (CRO), Emmanuel Orgah, said if pharmaceutical companies fund researches, all stakeholders would be better for it.

    The students, who are in their final year, came to acquaint themselves with the vast potentials of natural products, ethno-botany and its application, traditional medicine knowledge and practices.

    Orgah said the students should not allow their interests in traditional medicine to wane, as there is a growing global interest in alternative health products and resurgence in the use of medicinal herbs to improve health or alleviate the symptoms of a wide range of ailments, which is on the increase. “Herbs are leaves, roots and flowers of plants grown and processed for culinary, cosmetic, industrial, medicinal, decorative, flavoring and fragrance purposes. There are three ways raw flora can yield wealth: sold as raw material; sold as extracts of various degrees of refinement and sold as molecular models for synthesising new drugs. The most popular herbal products are laxatives, weight-loss remedies, immune system enhancers, sexual performance aids, anti-ageing remedies and products to relieve anxiety and stress. Certified organic production increases the acceptance of herbs.”

    Orgah who titled his presentation, “Exploiting the wealth in the green estate”, said opportunities abound in traditional medicine which the students can explore. They include but not limited to enthusiasm to have ‘natural’ life styles and use environment friendly products; resurgence of interest on natural products drugs, cosmetics; absence of cures for deadly diseases; absence of proper cures for chronic ailments; disabilities during ageing and resistance build up by microbes to modern drugs.

    “I have identified threats to herbal plants to include lack of proper quality raw materials; banning of exports of medicinal plants; stringent regulations for control and loss of traditional knowledge. But with your determination and mine, traditional medicine will take its rightful place.”

    The Director-General, Dr Tam Okujagu, hailed the students for their interest in traditional medicine, saying:

    “I am happy that these youths have expressed desire in herbal plants. It is my desire to stimulate greater enthusiasm and dedication in science, technology and innovation generally, especially with regards to natural product research and development and growth of this great nation. You are following a right path. This exposure maximises the learning experience of the trainees, and has been fingered as perhaps a contributory factor to their outstanding performance among peers.”

    The Course Coordinator, Dr Joseph Ashidi, said the excursion was a stimulating experience and has encouraged the students in choosing careers in Pharmaceutical Botany and Medicinal Plants Research and other natural products development activities.

    “This excursion alone carries 15 per cent in the overall assessment of the course and also will help the students in preparation for their examinations.”

    The students were guided on a tour of the agency by Director of Research, Mr Sam Etatuvie, another course coordinator, Mrs Roseline Feyisola.

  • Govt to support research on leather sector

    The Federal Government has pledged to continue to support activities on leather research and production in the country to enable the sector become one of the highest revenue earners for the country.

    The Minister of Science and Technology, Professor Ita Okon Bassey, made this known during the commissioning of some projects at the Nigerian Institute of Leather and Science Technology (NILEST), in Zaria.

    “The entire ministry of science and technology is aware of the efforts of NILEST in the area of manpower and infrastructural development and will continue to support these efforts until research and development in leather and leather products technology takes its rightful place so as to position it as one of the highest income generating sectors of the Nigerian economy,” Okon said.

    The Director General, NILEST, Dr Isuwa. Adamu, said the institute is capable of assisting the government in its efforts to fight unemployment through the teaching of necessary skills in footwear and leather goods production.

     

  • Amaechi challenges RSUST on research

    To ensure that the Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST), Port Harcourt attains the vision of its founding fathers regarding scientific breakthroughs, Governor Chibuike Amaechi has challenged the lecturers to embark on research projects.

    Amaechi who gave the charge at the 25th convocation for the 2011/2012 graduates of the first state-owned university also noted that the growth, development and quality of universities are measured by the quality of their research output.

    To this end, he counselled the university to vote funds for research and training to bridge the gap.

    He also advised the authorities of the school to scout and recruit the best lecturers, promising, that his administration would pay their remunerations.

    The Governor promised the university full financial autonomy, observing that the essence of training and retraining of its staff will enable them cope with the dynamics of academic challenges.

    He, however, decried a situation where lecturers turn themselves into businessmen and warned them against using official working hours to attend to their private businesses.

    “You cannot be a lecturer and also a businessman. The business of lecturing is the business of studying and there is no time any lecturer will stop studying. I think that the university must vote funds for research and training. It is not enough that we are building hostels, offices and classrooms without promoting training.”

    He also disclosed that his administration has concluded arrangements to commence the construction of the new RSUST at the Greater Port Harcourt City this year.

    “We have finished with the due process and we will start building the infrastructures and various faculties of the university,” he said.

    In his welcome address, titled On a Steady Growth, the RSUST Vice- Chancellor, Prof Barineme Fakae said 5,453 graduands were awarded first degrees, post graduate diplomas, masters and doctorate degrees.

    Fakae urged the graduands to see their convocation as the beginning of a turning point in their personal lives.

    The VC recalled how the university suffered unwarranted image battering by some unpatriotic elements stating the university has taken a resolve that strike is no more an option in any struggle for better service conditions as it has negative impact on the future.

     

     

    Fakae noted that cultism has been reduced to the barest minimum, resulting to a peaceful and serene atmosphere in the school.

    “Students write their examinations now under the supervision of lecturers and not military operatives as was the era of campus cultism. RSUST is one of the best universities in the world today”, he declared.

    In his speech, the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the 10th Governing Council of the university, Hon. Justice Adolphus Karibi-Whyte (rtd) thanked the governor for the strong support he has given to the school, noting that a high level of discipline and dedication to studies have been imbibed by the graduands.

    Out of the total number of 5453 graduands who convoked, 19 obtained PhDs, 273 masters degrees and 86 post graduate diplomas.

    Highlights of the occasion included offer of prices to outstanding students, especially to the overall best student, Mr Okonkwo Chinedu Onochie of the department of Petro- Chemical Engineering who won five prizes.

     

  • Agric research: Govt targets Brazilian model

    Agric research: Govt targets Brazilian model

    The Federal Government will transform the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN) to the Brazilian model – Embrapa, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has said.

    Adesina said the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation has contributed immensely to developing Brazil’s agricultural sector, adding that the ARCN will soon become Nigeria’s Embrapa as the research body was able to convert its savannah to green vegetation.

    “Nigeria must learn how Brazil did it and one of the things we can take with us is know how to transform our own northern savannah which is the northern Guinea Savannah similar to that of Brazil to fertile land.

    “Today the savannah region contributes more than 70% of the beef cattle production in the country and thanks to irrigation and soil correcting techniques; it is also an important production centre of grains, mainly soya, beans, maize and rice,” he said.

    Adesina who was in Brazil with selected directors from the Ministry went to study source of the country’s agricultural successes.

    In a statement issued yesterday in Abuja by the Director of Information, Greyne Anosike the delegate discovered the Embrapa played significant roles to Brazil’s food sufficiency.

    However, he identified the need to build solid partnership with the Brazilian government.

    Embrapa is the acronym for “Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária”.

    It reads in part: “The main achievement of Embrapa, according to the Minister was to turn the ‘cerrado’ also known as savannah to green vegetation.

    “When Embrapa started, Brazil’s savannah was said to be regarded as unfit for farming by then as they seemed too acidic and too poor in nutrients but it was amazing the way Embrapa turned things around.

    “Brazil’s agricultural miracle did not happen through a simple technological fix. No magic bullet accounts for it, all the interventions worked together. Improving the soil and the new tropical soybeans were both needed for farming the cerrado; the two together also made possible the changes in farm techniques which have boosted yields further, so I see no reason the ARCN should not perform the same function in Nigeria”.

    Meanwhile, Adesina has begun talks with Brazilian farmers for a shared knowledge on the use of farming technology. The Minister has also persuaded the Brazilian investors to explore opportunities in the nation’s agricultural sector.

    Speaking with Brazilian investors and stakeholders in agribusiness in Sao Paulo, he said the move to understand how Brazil developed its agriculture became imperative given the advanced technology adopted by its farmers.

    “Brazil was a net exporter of food just like Nigeria few years ago and that if Brazil could rise above her challenges then Nigeria has no reason to remain where it is today.

    “The growing influence of Brazil in global economic fora is linked to her ability to feed herself and export to the world community,” he said.

  • Research key to e-payment development, says expert

    The rapid growth of electronic payment across the continent is driven by innovative products occasioned by huge investments in research and development, Managing Consultant Intermac Consulting, Mr Adeyinka Adeyemi, has said.

    Speaking at the maiden edition of the Card and e-Payment Africa Awards (CePAA) in Johannesburg, South Africa, the Intermac boss said: “There is just nobody noticing the huge investments going into research and development to bring about new technologies and new solutions. Sometimes these solutions succeed, sometimes they fail and when they fail what most stakeholders tend to do is go back to the drawing board, spending double and sometimes triple until they get to the market.

    “Now once they get to the market with a fantastic product like Mpesa for instance, nobody recognises that effort, even though they are making money, they are selling services and we believe that we must come to terms with the fact that there are people that are doing a lot of work to get the products to the shelves, to get technologies that will work to the table and to the shelves. And that is why we came up with the concept of Cards and E-payment Africa Awards (CePAA).”

    Corroborating Adeyemi, Charlton Goredema, the Vice President and Area Business Head for Southern Africa and Indian Ocean Islands of Mastercard Worldwide, while receiving the award for Best Security and Authentication Programme, said card use and acceptance in Africa has become phenomenal, especially given the volume and value of transactions recorded daily for ecommerce.

    He said the financial institutions and payment system providers who are making this convenience and security happen should be recognised for their efforts and investment in innovative products and services.

    The event featured 12 categories of awards with Diamond Bank, and the Congo subsidiary of Access Bank, emerging among the winners. Diamond Bank won the Best Credit Card Product of the Year and the Best Co-branded Card Programme while Access Bank Congo won the Best Debit Card Product of the Year award.

    The Best Mobile Payment Product award was won by Fundamo (PTY) South Africa, while DrawCard, South Africa won the Best Alternative Payments Programme award. Master Card emerged as the winner of the Best Security and Authentication Programme, while the Best Card Benefits Programme of the Year award went to Absa Bank of South Africa. Other awards were:  Best Card Processor of the Year won by HPS Worldwide, Morocco; Best POS Integrator of the Year won by Transaction Payment System (TPS) Zimbabwe; and Industry Personality of the Year won by Mr. Jose G. Matos, Chief Executive Officer, Emis Angola.

    Speaking while receiving the Personality of the Year award,   Jose de Matos, Managing Director of Empresa Interbancaria de Servicos (EMIS), commended Intermarc Consulting for its leadership, passion and commitment in organising the award.

    Receiving the Best Card Benefit Programme of the Year award on behalf of Absa Bank South Africa, Juanita Matelakengisa, the Chief of Staff – Card and Consumer Finance, noted that since  similar awards are being held in Europe, Asia and America for those continents,  developments in the card space across Africa need to be recognised and success stories celebrated.

    On his part, Lincoln Boweni, a Director with eTranzact Global South Africa (Pty) Limited, who received the Best Mobile Payment Initiative of the Year for his company, praised the organisers for a successful event and encouraged key stakeholders in the epayment industry across Africa to  celebrate success stories as the African electronic transaction industry has come of age.

    The Executive Director, Diamond Bank Nigeria Plc, Uzoma Dozie, while receiving the Best Credit Card Product of the Year and Best Co-Branded Card Product of the Year, said Diamond Bank was happy to receive the awards, which will further encourage the bank to focus on providing excellent customer experience across electronic channels.

    The 12 award winners emerged through an online voting system on the Card and ePayment Africa Awards website. The voting was supervised by a panel of Judges comprising   six industry experts from the card and epayment sector across Africa with experience within the industry brought together for the selection of winners.

    Adeyemi explained, “The aim of the Award is to recognise and reward excellence and cutting –edge innovation in the card and electronic payment market in Africa.  This is the trend in Europe where Cards Awards (Europe) is hosted annually in London and in Asia, where Card Awards Asia is hosted annually.

    “Unlike other parts of the world where such companies are recognized for their R and D roles, and turning out new innovations; in Africa we don’t do that. So we said to ourselves, we can change all of that in Africa and do even better what the stakeholders are doing in Europe, the US and Asia.

    “The first one was held at the prestigious Michelangelo hotel in Johannesburg on the thirteenth of March and it was a huge success. Because we had people from Ghana, from South Africa, from Congo, from Zimbabwe, all over Africa, attending that event and everybody had the same thing to say with the need to support this initiative because we need to recognize achievements, and that essentially is the vision of INTERMAC consulting by putting this award together.”

     

  • ‘TETFund should establish research labs’

    ‘TETFund should establish research labs’

    : Lawmaker says agency should pause funding

    Rather than wait for the private sector to invest in research as some academics advocate, a Member of House of Representative, Hon Kehinde Odeneye has said the government, through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) can undertake to establish state-of-the-art central research laboratories to boost research capacity of Nigerian universities and academics.

    Odeneye, who is a member of the House Committee on Education, told The Nation in an interview that the agency could temporarily withhold funds from tertiary institutions for a year to establish the laboratories in the six geo-political zones of the country.

    He added that when established, academics from all tertiary institutions could be involved in multidisciplinary researches that could solve pressing national problems.

    That way, Odeneye said the government would put its money where its mouth is and build the confidence of the private sector in the education system.

    He said: “The intervention we need in our education system should be total and holistic so we ourselves will believe in it. So much money goes into research and nobody wants to take a gamble. Rather than collaborate with the private sector on research, what we should do is that TETFund should set up a research centre where professors will come together and let’s see what they can do. If anybody should take a gamble, it should be the government.

    “The research centre should be a general one that will be fully loaded. To me, TETFUND can even stop general intervention funding to institutions for a year to set up the state-of-the-art centres in the six geo-political zones.”

    However, despite complaints of inadequate funding, Odeneye lamented that many tertiary institutions fail to access their yearly capital grants from TETFund.

    He urged the institutions to do their parts in meeting the conditions of the agency so they can access the funds, advising them to even apply for special intervention funds which are also available.

    “TETFund has been trying in disbursing grants to institutions but some schools don’t even access their allocations. The TETFUND has billions in its account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the chairman complained that most schools do not come for their allocations. My call to institutions is that they should approach TETFund and apply for the grants, even the special intervention funds. I do not see any reason why there should be funds and they are not used,” he said.

    To attract the best of brains to education and other sectors, Odeneye called on the Federal Government to emulate the scholarship programmes of China, India and other fast-growing countries.

    The lawmaker explained that these countries send their best brains to study in the best schools in the world and engage them once they are through so they can invest their newly acquired skills into their economies.

    “Look at India, they follow up their students. When you finish secondary school and you want to become a doctor, they send you to the best medical school to train and immediately you finish, they bring you back to work. But in Nigeria, if there is such a scheme, it is not working. If they go on PTDF scholarship, they don’t come back here. If they come back, they will be begging for jobs instead of the government to engage their skills,” he said.

  • In focus: Stem cell research and genetic engineering

    Understanding the phylogeny of the immune mechanisms which evolved to protect us from death due to Sickle cell disease and Malaria, while at the same time making us vulnerable to HIV/AIDS will enable African Scientists find solutions to their own problems. Stem cell research holds the roadmap to this end. Funds for the equipment are available and if indeed private sector participation is considered feasible, let governments at all levels encourage it, just as is being done for the forth coming centenary celebrations. The human portion of what is urgently needed is available from the enlarging pools of graduates in Anatomy, Physiology, Biotechnology, Pharmacology and others.

    At present only few institutions, particularly those owned by the multinational oil companies are able to purchase and maintain PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) machines; one of the reasons, early diagnosis of HIV/AIDS occurring through mother to child transmission in children is problematic. The same goes for other pieces of equipment needed to perform chains of techniques in stem cell and other research laboratories, but the benefits are worth the efforts or input, whatever the magnitude; It is just a matter of proper placement of priorities for sustainable development, and conscientious use of public funds.

    Owners of fertility centers overseas are at times amused at the flow of human traffic, particularly from Nigeria to their Clinics. Simple tests that can be done here are carried out for them in these places at costs one thousand times what would have obtained here; even for cases that are beyond medical redemption, millions are paid without hesitation, so long it is taking place outside the country. Couples with issues of infertility , primary or secondary and others with the problems of sex preferences are currently spending huge amounts of money trying to find solutions to their problems. Stem cell research offers insight into the behavior of Primordial germ cells in their various journeys before becoming Spermatogonia Spermatozoa or Oocytes in the Ovaries. Hopeless cases of Azoospemia (no sperm found in a patients ejaculate) can benefit from pre spermatogonia stem cell transfer. Awareness has to be created so those who have the money can be properly directed to help themselves and humanity. One can go on enumerating the numerous benefits of establishing stem cell research centers as a forward looking way of diversifying the economy, building capacity by providing opportunities for learning and skills acquisition. The challenges including ethical issues are formidable, but the bottom line is that Nigerian Universities turn out graduates of different disciplines yearly, and more of these universities are being established. Graduates in psychology and philosophy who deal in ideas should be given the chance to contribute to sustainable development of the country by giving them places in the government . Science graduates in particular those coming out with good grades in Anatomy , Physiology Pharmacology have very little engagement or entrepreneurial opportunities in relevant sectors of the economy and the only alternative is for them to travel out (which they are currently doing). This form of brain drain can be aborted if Governments and Business Men change the way they operate and one sure way of doing that is to explore the area of stem cell research. It is a future equivalent of an oil boom. The benefits extend from better understanding and treatment of disease conditions in Medicine, and which can be applied in a similar manner in Agriculture to improve the quality and quantity of food , and in fact to nearly every thing that has to do with man and the conditions that make him live a happy and healthy life. Imagine having diseased portions removed from the brain of a Professor of Internal Medicine who is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease with loss of recent memory , and then replacing them with transplanted healthy brain cells.

    Sustainable development through employment generation should always take into consideration, the matter of health, past, present and future, or else nothing changes, only that one slogan replaces another ,and the brain drain continues even within a sub region. Those who have the means to travel will always get out of it all.

  • In focus: Stem cell research and genetic engineering

    Continued from last week

    Imagine a patient with kidney failure spared the ordeal of renal dialysis twice a week. Consider a child on death bed with the condition of aplastic anaemia ,and a few hours after receiving transfusion of stem cells , his bone marrow begin to distribute healthy red blood cells into his circulation; picture how those affected will feel especially if they don’t have to travel out overseas for these interventions. Nothing makes greater sense of the presence of Government than having group specific health care facilities like those that can be deployed in the conditions stated above. The successful transplant of body parts such as Liver, Heart, Kidneys, or of limbs, depends on many factors including age, gender and health status of the recipient. Getting donors is another issue. For every one involved including the managing team to be happy at the end of such a big Endeavour, very many activities take place at different times and involve very many people, sometimes from across continents. Indications for such heroic major surgical interventions are not common but can arise as the fall out of natural disasters, wars, communal conflicts, accidents and others. It is fair to suggest that every country on earth has had a share of such challenges.

    The two hands of a young American soldier which he lost by way of traumatic amputations were recently replaced by a Team of Surgeons .What has made such a feat thinkable began as an idea from the observation by one group of scientists that certain animals, Salamanders, Klinks and Geckos have the capacity to replace body parts. Others also noted that certain animals performed autotomy,(self amputation) a phenomenom whereby an animal slices off parts of it’s body and escapes with the vital part, knowing it has the capacity to regenerate the lost parts. While the observations metamorphosed in the minds of scientists, others engineered replacing lost parts by fabricating them from whatever materials could suit the user and at the same time be environment friendly. Thus bioengineered artificial body parts predated the transplant of living tissues. Obviously through superior medical thinking, scientists in the western world are moving from the market of prosthesis to a more natural one of whole limb transplant. So the ability to face conflicts in all strategic directions after all, does not depend on how much mass destruction you can do with Conventional, Nuclear and Biological weapons, but more importantly how much repair you can do to the damage occasioned by your adventure, not only on your enemy but yourself as well.

    The argument is that it is time the establishment of centers of excellence in the country took into consideration these new frontiers in Anatomy, Physiology and biotechnology.

    Just as the location of a cement factory in an area helps provide employment for those willing to work , setting up laboratories and medical centers with adequate personnel and with all the equipment required to operate in accordance with international standards will open several opportunities for exchange of knowledge or shall we say secretes of the trade. Young aspiring scientists in Health, Bioengineering, Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Sciences will have access to facilities they only dream, or read about from the internet.

    This can only be achieved if Heads of institutions, Vice chancellors, Chief Medical Directors and others entrusted with oversight functions see them selves as individuals who will one day benefit from the contributions of those they head; if such heads of institutions, establishments and departments see every young man or woman as a Nigerian, and not an indigene of a state that should be punished for belonging or not belonging to a political or social arrangement.

    For many Nigerian scientists currently living overseas, happiness is not really complete. Those who are aging are not as free as their brothers and sisters here in Nigeria. Coming home to move freely with neighbors and socialize with family members, while making themselves available for research, teaching and inventions, remain uppermost in their minds, but challenges of the environment including the cancer of tribalism being persistently injected by governments, heads of institutions past and present have kept them quarantined overseas. One thing they do enjoy however is the fact that they are celebrated, something that gives them that sense of fulfillment. PhD students overseas are celebrated irrespective of race or color. They enjoy financial benefits from Governments, several foundations established by elder states men, politicians, entrepreneurs businessmen religious organizations and internationally recognized Scholars. Unlike in Nigeria, PhD students have no business paying tuition fees, or spending huge sums of money to see them through dissertations or thesis. Unless this system is dropped there may be nothing to remember about the MDGS after the year 2015.

    Indeed Stem cell research should be a priority area for African countries where the nature of the relationship between Malaria endemnicity, the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and partial protection against sick ling for heterozygous (AS &AC) individuals, at least at the molecular level has not been fully understood. These three diseases are currently ravaging the continent and for them, the gains recorded so far have come as a result of knowledge, attitude and perception (KAP) studies and certainly not as a result of therapeutic measures, though they (therapeutics) have been significant in reducing mortality in some cases. It is however still very disheartening that more than half of the states still have HIV/AIDS prevalence higher than 40%. Current statistics are low estimates because the boys, are not going for voluntary counseling and testing (VCT), and rich men and women living with HIV/AIDS only tell people they have cancer. They do not go to government treatment centers to avoid being part of the statistics. The problem of course is that heads of families are dying leaving orphans with out any hopes of a future; the economy surfers when people suddenly stop going to work, and of course poverty is inevitable when money is diverted from other aspects of daily living, either to buy drugs or receive blood transfusion.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Medical students challenged on research

    Medical students in the University of Calabar (UNICAL) have been charged to see academic research as a veritable way of acquire knowledge as against the traditional practice, which places emphasises on reading. The charge was given during a workshop by Research Africa on modern technique in research.

    Addressing participants, STEP-B Project Manager, who is also the Director of Research of the institution, Prof Emmanuel Ezedinachi, urged students not to wait till their final year before getting involved in research.

    The don said the directorate was established to emphasise and make research continuous culture, especially in the academia. According to him, Research Africa was an online platform that helped potential researchers to access funding agencies based on the quality of written proposal.

    In his remark, a member of STEP-B project, Prof Bassey Okon, said the aim of the workshop was to open the minds of the medical students and let them know that there was more to the discipline than the routine of clinical diagnosis and therapy.

    Prof Okon advised students to see academic research as an avenue to stand out saying, “if you ask the right questions, you can achieve anything.” He added that all that was required of the participants was the will and commitment, assuring that with STEP-B project, getting funding for viable research was no longer a problem.

    The students were tutored on various methodologies of research in the field. Researchers such as the Dean of Faculty of Allied Medical Sciences, Prof Anne Asuquo, encouraged the students to diversify into other areas and take research seriously.

     

  • Don: AIDS cure research is on-going

    A lecturer of the University of Benin (UNIBEN), Prof. Isaiah Ibeh, yesterday said he was researching the drug capable of curing HIV/AIDS.

    He said observations of the research were still at the preliminary and embroyo stage.

    Ibeh had, on Tuesday, announced a major breakthrough in the invention of an oral drug made from plant extraction in Nigeria for possible cure of HIV/AIDS.

    But the university authorities queried him for making his findings public without following procedures.

    The university, which spoke through the Provost of the College of Medicine, Prof. Vincent Iyawe, said it would like to take credit for the breakthrough.

    A statement by Ibeh reads: “I am very sorry for the embarrassment this has caused my professional colleagues in the University of Benin .

    “I’ve realised that there are procedures for reporting such scientific results.”

    It was, however, gathered that Ibeh was a victim of power play within the institution.

    Sources told The Nation that top management of the institution, including professors in the College of Basic Medical Sciences, were aware of the drug but were not happy that Ibeh refused to disclose the formula before going public.

    The sources said seven HIV/AIDS patients were said to have undergone trial treatments with the drug and two were found to have been cured.